Convertible stock car



R. C. CHISAM CONVERTIBLE STOCK CAR Dec. 1, 1925- Filed May 51, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 1 ,1 1925 1,563,470

R. c. CHISAM I convmnsme scrocx CAR Filed May 51, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 glwueutoz Patented Dec. 1, 1925 UNITED STATES RAY C. CHISAM, OF THE DALLES, OREGON.

CONVERTIBLE STOCK GAR.

Application filed May 31,

To (all whom it may concern- Be it known that I, RAY C. CHrsAM, a citizen oi the United States, and a resident of The Dalles, State of Oregon, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Convertible Stock Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to railroad stock cars, and has for its particular object the provision of simple practical and inexpensive means for providing in standard cattle cars an adjustable supplemental deck or floor which is vertically movable so that the car can be used for both large and small animals.

' All stock cars which are provided with movable floors with which I am familiar, necessitate considerable alterations and. strengthening of the parts in order to permit the introduction of a movable supplemental fioor, and for that reason have not been as extensively adopted by the railroad companies as the need for such cars warrants.

A further object of my invention is to provide a stock car with a movable floor which is adapted to be stowed directly upon the fixed floor, thus keeping the center of mass of the car'close to the car trucks so as not to increase the tendency of the car to overturn. when going around curves empty. hen the supplemental deck or floor is carried upon the floor oi" the car, it also eliminates the chances of injury to the cattle by the supporting devices of the sup plemental floor becoming broken and permitting the supplemental floor to fall as would be the case if the supplemental floor .is swung overhead.

A further specific object of my invention is to construct the supplemental floor so that it can be stowed directly upon the floor of the car and the oists in such a manner that the supporting members will seat in re cesses provided on the floor and thus permit the under surface of the supplemental fioor to bear'directly against the upper surface of the floor, for its entire area.

A further object is to provide efiicient but inexpensive operating means for lifting and lowering said movable floor and to provide auxiliary devices for holding this floor in set position in such a manner. that these 1924. Serial No. 716,983.

auxiliary devices will support the entire weight of the floor and thus relieve the operating mechanism from supporting the loadresting on the floor when the floor is in set position. i

A feature of the specific auxiliary supporting devices shown is that they will be unaffected by the vibration of the car or by distortion of the same caused by the car passing over a sharp bend in the track or when it runs over an uneven road bed.

The further details of the construction and operation are hereinatterdisclosed with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a stock car embodying my invention, parts of the car having been shown broken away to disclose details 01" construction;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the two floors arranged in approximately their positions when the car is used to carry smaller animals, parts of the upper floor being broken away to show the construction of the joists and supporting devices for the auxiliary floor;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section taken just above the supplemental deck in Fig. 1.

Fig. i is an enlarged sectional view ta en in (plan. illustrating the cleclclifting means; an

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3, and shows the supporting device for holding the movable floor in set position.

As hereinbefore noted, my invention is adaptable to be used with a standard cattle car a, mounted on trucks Z), provided with a floor c and a roof 0!, the roof d being supported by vertical standards 0 which extend upwardly from the edges otthe floor c. Spaced siding f encloses the car but provides suflicient ventilation through the car. The ends of the car are made up ofboards g which are placed edge to edge so as to form a solid structure. Doors h are arranged at each side of the car substantially in the middle and are supported and guided by longitudinal tracks 2' arranged to permit the door to be moved outside of the side wall of the car to provide access into the car. To a car of this character I add additional vertical standards j along side of the standards e spaced therefrom to provide recesses 7:: between them. I journal operating rods Z in these standards extending outside of the car at each corner of the car and in each recess I mount a pinion m, on the rod Z, as shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4L, and 5. There are four operating rods and two pinions on each rod. Over the recesses 70 I mount a grooved cap a which extends from the roof (Z down to a point approximately along the vertical middle of the car. I provide a movable floor 0 preferably made in sections, and I mount at each side of the floor, L-shaped members 79 which have racks 79' on the outer face of the upstanding legs. The upstanding legs p extend upwardly into the re cesses 7a and the racks p out thereon mesh with the pinions m. The groove 77/ in the cap a is substantially the same width as that of the lip-standing leg of the member Z and is spaced from the pinion a suflicient distance to just permit the upstanding leg p to pass through. This groove 71 thus serves as a guide way for the lip-standing leg ,1) and holds the rack 32 constantly in mesh with the pinions m. The out-standing leg 12" of the member 2) serves to support the auxiliary floor 0, and the floor has, in addition, transverse joists Q mounted at each side of the L-shaped member 2) to provide additional support. I provide grooves r and s in the floor 0 to accommodate the joists Q and the outstanding legs p of the L-shaped member p. Thus, when the floor is in its lowering position, the auxiliary floor will rest against and be supported by the main floor along its entire surface and thus cannot become broken by the stamping thereon of the larger and heavier animals such as cattle and horses.

As can be noted in Figs. 1 and 5, the caps n terminate at a point substantially along the vertical middle of the carand thus limit the upward movement of the auxiliary floor 0. Supporting devices .t, pivoted at a, in the recesses 70 between the members 0 and y, are adapted to swing outwardly when the auxiliary floor is moved upwardly. The upper end i" of each of the supporting devices, is notched and the notch engages the adjacent edge of the floor, causing the weight of the floor to aid in preventing displacement of the supporting device.

As can be noted in Fig. 5, the supporting devices in their supporting position are out of plumb and lean inwardly towards the floor and thus they always tend to remain in engagement with the floor. Thus even if the car is subjected to undue distortion by sharp curves or uneven tracks, the supporting devices eannot become dislodged so as to permit the floor to fall. I provide retaining means for the support when it is not in supporting position, by passing a pin through the holes o and o in the members 25 and a respectively which coincide and cause the member 25 to be in vertical alinement with the standards 6 and The deck is moved vertically in the following manner:

Starting with the auxiliary deck at the bottom of the car, in which position it lies directly upon the main floor with the supporting members nested in recesses in the floor, when the hand wheels 10 on both sides of the deck, on the end of the rods Z, are rotated in a proper direction they rotate the pinions m similarly. The rotation of the pinions m moves the L-shaped members 12 upwardly and thus lifts the floor 0 up wardly also. The floor being made in sections permits each section to be moved separately and thus proportionately decreases the load which must be lifted at one time. hen the floor is moved to its upper position it strikes the lower end a of the cap a which limits its upper movement. In this position the pins can be withdrawn from the holes '0 and 4; which permits the retaining member 6 to be swung into position with the notch t engaging the edge of the auxiliary floor 0. When the supporting devices have been swung into position, the lifting means can be released slightly so that said lifting means does not have to support any of the load which will subsequently be placed upon the auxiliary floor. This operation can be repeated for the other section of the auxiliary floor. The lower ends of the caps a aline the two sections, and the members 6' tend to support them in the adjusted position. To lower the floors, the operation is reversed and when the floor 0 is completely lowered the cross members 72 and 9 will come to rest with the transverse supporting members 9 and 72 seated in the recesses provided in the main floor. Thus, if thecar is to be used for large cattle, they will not injure the lighter movable floor which covers the main floor.

I claim:

1. In a stock car and the like, a movable floor composed of sections located at the opposite ends of the car, the movable floor be ing composed of floor boards, having transverse joist members fastened to and projecting below their under side, the main floor of the car-being provided with recesses in which said joist members are received so that the movable floor can rest throughout di rectly on the main floor of the car, and means for lifting the movable floor sections independently, such means operable from the exterior at each end of the car.

2. In a stock car and the like, a movable floor, the movable floor being composed of floor boards, having transverse joist members fastened to their under side, the main floor of the car being provided with recesses in whichsaid joist members are received so that the movable floo'r can rest directly on and in actual contact with the main floor of the car, means for lifting the movable floor, such means operable from the exterior, and supports for said movable floor adapted to support the latter independently of said lifting means.

3. In a stock car and the like, a movable floor, the movable floor being composed of floor boards, having transverse joist mem bers fastened to their under side, the main floor of the car being provided with recesses in which said joist members are fully re ceived so that the movable floor can rest directly on the main floor of the car, means for lifting the movable floor. such means operable from the exterior, and supports for said movable floor adapted to support the latter independently of said lifting means, said supports comprising up-right members pivoted at their lower ends between the upright frame members of the sides of the car body.

4. In a stock car and the like, a movable floor, the movable fioor being composed of floor boards, having transverse joist members fastened to their under side, the main floor of the car being provided with recesses in which said joist members are received so that the movable floor can rest directly on and in direct contact throughout with the main floor of the car, means for lifting the movable floor, such means operable from the exterior, supports for said movable floor adapted to support the latter independently of said lifting means, and means for engagbelow the movable floor as brace members and in part above the movable floor in the form of racks to cooperate with said pinions, the main floor being formed with recesses to receive said transverse joists and brace members of the movable floor when the latter is lowered, whereby the movable floor will rest in direct contact with the main floor.

6. In a stock car, a main floor, uprights rising therefrom, shafts supported in the up rights and provided with pinions, a movable floor having transverse joists on its lower surface, L-shaped members extending in part below the movable floor as brace members and in part above the movable floor in the form of racks to cooperate with said pinions, members pivotally mounted at their lower ends on the uprights and notched at their upper ends to engage the edge of the movable floor to support the latter in elevated position, and means whereby said members may be secured to the uprights beyond the plane of movement of the movable floor, the main floor being formed with recesses to receive said transverse joists and brace members of the movable floor when the latter is lowered, whereby the movable floor will rest in direct contact with the main floor.

RAY C. CHISAM. 

